Rotating orchard heater



Jan. 10, 1967 L. A. WIEGEL 3,296,739

ROTATING ORCHARD HEATER Filed Feb. 17, 1965 2 Sheets-$heet 1 Fig./ 86

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Louis A. W/ege/ 1N VIZN 10R.

Jan. 10, 1967 L. A. WIEGEL ROTATING ORCHARD HEATER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Feb. 17, 1965 Louis .4. Mega! INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,296,739 ROTATING ORCHARD HEATER Louis A. Wiegel,Orlando, Fla, assiguor of one-haif to B. L. Johnson and one-half toCarol Mary Wiegel, both of Orlando, Fla.

Filed Feb. 17, 1965, Ser. No. 433,434 9 Claims. (Cl. 472) This inventioncomprises a novel and useful rotating orchard heater and moreparticularly constitutes improvements over and comprises acontinuation-in-part of my prior application Serial No. 366,288, filedMay 11, 1964, for Defroster and Orchard Heater.

It has become common practice in regional areas in which orchards,nurseries and the like are subjected to dangers of frost or freezing toprovide auxiliary heating means for maintaining the temperature in theorchard or nursery above the frosting points and thereby prevent damageto the trees or shrubbery. Heretofore smoke pots have been employed forthis purpose. However, the use of smoke pots is not entirelysatisfactory owing to the relatively small area which is heated by asmoke pot due to lack of adequate currents carrying the heated productsthereof throughout the orchard or nursery. A further disadvantageattending the use of smoke pots is the very considerable labor involvedin positioning smoke pots throughout an orchard or threatened area andthen replenishing the smoke pots from time to time as their fuel isexhausted.

It is therefore the primary purpose of this invention to largelyovercome these disadvantages by providing a heating means which shallhave a very great radius or area of effective activity and wherein theheated products of combustion may be uniformly distributed over a verylarge area.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device which may besupplied with a relatively large quantity of fuel and wherein the supplyof fuel may be readily replenished from time to time with a minimumeffort.

A still further and more specific object of the invention is to providean orchard heater in which the burner supplied with fuel from astationary tank is caused to rotate throughout 360 degrees continuouslyand thus provide an effective stream of heated air and combustionproducts over a relatively greater area.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device in accordancewith the foregoing objects which shall include an improved means forrotatively mounting the heating unit and an air fan associated therewithfor 360 degrees of rotation while continuously supplying fuel from thestationary source to the burner of the device.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an orchard heater inaccordance with the preceding objects wherein the air fan itself shallby its reaction supply the rotating force for the device and wherebythrough a mere change in the mounting of the unit upon its revolvingsupport the speed of rotation may be readily varied.

Still another purpose of the invention is to provide an orchard heaterin accordance with the preceding object wherein through a very simpleadjustment the heating capacity of the unit may be widely varied as maybe necessary.

A further object of the invention is to provide a revolving fan forproducing a stream of air together with means for selectively applyingheat and/or water to the air stream for use as a heater and/ or ahumidifier or sprayer.

Still another and more specific object of the invention is to provide arevolving orchard heater which may be readily constructed to employelectricity, oil or a combustible gas as the heat source thereof.

Still another purpose of the invention is to provide a 3,296,739Patented Jan. 10, 1967 power driven air blower particularly adapted foruse by nurserymen together with means for supplying moisture to thestream of air to thereby spray or humidify vegetation and the like.

Another and further specific object of the invention is to provide arevolving orchard heater wherein the air stream produced by the powerdriven fan of the device is utilized to drive a secondary fan which inturn through gearing effects a positive rotation of the device about avertical axis at a predetermined rate of revolutions.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of one preferred embodiment of theapparatus in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view in side elevation of the apparatus of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view in side elevation of a portion of theapparatus in FIGURES 1 and 2 and showing in particular the air drivenpositive revolving mechanism of the device and the means for feedingwater as a spray into the air stream of the device;

FIGURE 4 is a detailed view taken upon an enlarged scale and in verticalcentral section through the junction of the upper and lower relativelyrevolvable sections of the support stand of the device and the novelrotary connection therebetween;

FIGURE 5 is a detail view in horizontal section taken substantially uponthe plane indicated by the section line 55 of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the rotatablejoint'connection forming an essen tial feature of the invention.

FIGURE 7 is a partial sectional view taken substantially through sectionline 7-7 in FIGURE 4.

In the accompanying drawings, the numeral 10 designates generally apreferred form of apparatus embodying therein the principles of thisinvention. The apparatus which is intended primarily as a means forheating or defrosting orchards and the like and/or for discharging ahumidified stream of air into plants or shrubbery is generallyapplicable as a means for effecting a forced discharge or stream of airin a generally horizontal direction from a revolving air blower, withthe stream of air being selectively heated or humidified or both ifdesired.

The apparatus consists of a support consisting of a lower section ofbase 12 together with an upper section 14, which as shown best in FIGURE4 is telescopingly and rotatably received within the lower section forrotation about a vertical axis. Conveniently, with continuing referenceto FIGURE 4, the two sections are hollow tubes and anti-friction bearingmeans 16 and 18 are provided by means of which the open lower end of theupper section 14 is rotatably received and supported within the lowersection 12. Mounted upon the upper end of the upper section is amounting means 20 such as a platform or the like and upon which iscarried an air blower assembly indicated generally by the numeral 22.The assembly includes a source of power 24 such as an electric motor, aninternal combustion engine or the like which has a drive shaft 26projecting therefrom upon which is mounted at an air blower preferablyin the form of a fan blade 28. The axis of the power shaft 26 isdisposed horizontally so that the propeller or air blower 28 willproduce a stream of air in a horizontal direction and throughout anentire circle as the air blower assembly 22 is rotated about thevertical axis of the support in a manner-to be subsequently set forth.

There is further provided a screen or guard 30 suitably carried by thepower source 24 and surrounding the blade or air blower 28 to protectand enclose the latter for safety purposes. Disposed axially of theblade and projecting outwardly from the screen or guard 30 there is anozzle 32 which serves as a means for introducing either heating fluidor water into the air stream for mixing with the latter and fordissemination by the latter.

It is to be appreciated that any suitable control means is provided forthe power source 24. Where the power source is an internal combustionengine, the usual connection with a source of fuel, not shown, will beprovided. On the other hand, if the source of power is an electricmotor, suitable electric connections for the source of power will beutilized, likewise not shown but of any conventional design.

Referring now again to FIGURE 3, in conjunction with FIGURE 5, it willbe observed that means are provided for positively effecting gradualrotation of the air blower assembly 22 about the vertical axis of thesupport structure in a controllable manner. For this purpose there isfixedly secured to the lower section 12 a stationary bevel ring gear 40which is engaged by a bevel pinion 42 journalled in a gear reductionassembly 44 and driven by a small propeller 46. The reduction gearingassembly is carried as by a bracket 48 from the lower portion of themounting means 20 and is so positioned that the propeller 46 is in theair stream or air blast of the main blower 28 so as to be driven by thelatter. The arrangement is such that when the blower is operated by thesource of power '24, the air stream from the rear thereof will impingeupon the propeller 46 for rotation thereof. Through the gearing assembly44, 42 and 40 the rotation of the propeller will cause the upper supportsection 14 and the air blower assembly 22 mounted thereon to rotateabout the vertical axis of the support at a relatively fixed andcontrolled rate. By way of example, in a preferred embodiment inaccordance with this invention, a rotation of about four revolutions perminute is found to be highly effective with the air blower delivering aforced air stream or blast at a rate of 7500 cubic feet per minute.

Disposed within the junction of the two telescoping upper and lowersections 14 and 12 is a rotary connection or joint comprising relativelyrevoluble upper and lower joint sections 50 and 52 respectively. Theupper joint section 50 is detachably but fixedly secured to the uppersupport section 14 as by being threadedly engaged by a nipple 54extending thereinto. The lower section 52 which is revolubly receivedwithin the upper support section 14 is retained in a stationary positionas by being engaged upon the upper end of a spring 56 whose lower endrests upon a retainer flange 58 carried by a pipe elbow 60 which extendsthrough and is fixedly secured to the stationary base or lower section12. The spring yieldingly urges the lower joint section 52 intocooperating rotary contact with the revoluble upper connector jointsection 50 carried by the revolving upper support section 14.

Cooperating passage means are provided in the two joint sections. Thus,there is a passage 62 in the lower joint section which registers with apassage 64 in the upper joint section. Received in the passage 62 is ahollow stem, pipe or sleeve 66, see also FIGURE 6, having an axial bore68 therethrough which is continuously in communication at its lower endwith the upstanding portion of the pipe elbow 60. At the upper or thepipe 60 there are provided radial ports 70 which communicate theinterior of the stem 66 with the bore or passage 64 in the uppercoupling section 50. This bore 64, as shown in FIGURE 4, communicates bya lateral passage 72 with the previously mentioned nipple 54. The upperend of the bore 64 is closed as by means of O-rings 74 engaging thelaterally enlarged cylindrical upper portion 76 of the stem 66, with aretaining washer or cap 78 being secured as by a fastening bolt 80 tothe stem and to compressively engage a thrust washer 82 against theO-riug 74. Thus to direct a spray of water into the air streamdischarged by the air blower 28. In addition, a further conduit 88 underthe control of manually operated valve 90, delivers water from theconduit 84 to a water nozzle 92 disposed within the air nozzle 32 forfurther introducing water directly into the middle of the air stream orair blast from the air blower 28. Thus, water can be selectivelysupplied into the air stream either at the center thereof through thenozzle 92 or from the exterior thereof through the nozzles 86 or both asmay be desired by properly adjusting the valves 82 and 90.

The water which is received by the nipple 54 is introduced into thelower end of the stem by means of the pipe elbow 60 which latterextending through the side of the lower section 12 is connected by aselector valve 94 alternatively to a source of water supply as through aconduit 96 or to a source of fuel of a combustible nature as by conduit98.

The fluid may be supplied either from a source of bottled gas 100, seeFIGURE 1, or from any other source of a combustible fuel supply, notshown. The fuel can be supplied in any suitable manner as for example bya further branch conduit 102 connected to the selector valve.

As so far described, it will be evident that by properly adjusting theselector valves and 82, that a combustible mixture may be suppliedthrough the conduit 98, through the pipe elbow 60 and through the hollowstem 66 and from thence through the nipple 54 and valve 82 and conduit84 and conduit 88 to the nozzle 92 where the combustible mixture may bedischarged from the nozzle 32 in any suitable manner, and thus willserve to supply and introduce heat into the air blast. Thus, the airblast supplied by the air blower will be effective to heat an adjacentarea by the hot combustion products delivered thereto thus servingideally as an orchard defroster or other space heater.

In some instances, it may be preferred to utilize electricity as thesource of heat rather than any combustion products. For that purpose, asshown in FIGURE 4, suitable electrical conduits which extend from anysuitable source of electric current, not shown, and enter the lower orbase support section 12 as through a grommet 112 therein are connectedto connector rings upon the adjoining faces of the upper and lowerconnector joint sections 50 and 52. From the latter, the current isconducted as by the conduits 114 and through a grommet 116 in the uppersupport section to suitable electrical heating elements (not shown)which may be located in the air nozzle means 32.

It will thus be apparent that the device is adapted for use with varioussources of power whether a combustible fuel or electricity, may beutilized to effect an air blast either with or without the addition ofheat or water thereto.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A revolving air stream generator comprising a support having upperand lower sections, said upper section being rotatable relative to thelower section about a substantially vertical axis, an air blowerproducing a generally horizontal stream of air, means mounting saidblower upon said upper section for rotation about said vertical axis, apower source mounted on said upper section and connected to said blower,gear means connected to said upper and lower sections for transmittingrotation to said upper section about the vertical axis and a propellermounted in the air stream from said air blower drivingly connected tosaid gear means for imparting rotation thereto.

2. The combination of claim 1 including means mounted on said uppersection forwardly of the blower for discharging a spray of Water intosaid air stream.

3. The combination of claim 1 including means mounted on said uppersection forwardly of the blower for introducing heat into said airstream.

4. The combination of claim 3 further including means mounted on theupper section forwardly of the blower for discharging a spray of waterinto said air stream.

5. A revolving air stream generator comprising a support having upperand lower sections, said upper section being rotatable relative to thelower section about a substantially vertical axis, an air blowerproducing a generally horizontal stream of air, means mounting saidblower upon said upper section for rotation about said vertical axis, apower source mounted on said upper section connected to said blower,gear means connected to said upper and lower sections for transmittingrotation to said upper section about said vertical axis and meansconnected to the gear means for imparting rotation thereto in responseto airflow produced by operation of said blower by said power source.

6. A revolving air stream generator comprising an elongated supporthaving upper and lower sections, said upper section being rotatablerelative to the lower section about a substantially vertical axis, anair blower producing a generally horizontal stream of air, meansmounting said blower upon said upper section for rotation about saidvertical axis, a power source connected to and operating said blower,rotary coupling means between said upper and lower support sections,fluid discharging nozzle means mounted by said blower mounting meansforwardly of the blower and connected to the upper conduit section, andmeans mounted by the upper section adjacent to said blower and driven bysaid stream of air for rotating said upper section about the verticalaxis.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said fluid is a combustible fueldischarged by the nozzle means and said lower conduit section isconnected to a source of fuel and conduit means extending through saidcoupling means connecting said source of fuel to the nozzle means.

3. The combination of claim 6 including separate sources of fuel andwater, conduit means extending through the coupling means conductingfluid from said sources to the nozzle means and a selector valve in saidconduit means connecting said sources through the conduit meansalternatively to said nozzle means.

9. The combination of claim 6 wherein said nozzle means is a flameemitting fuel burner.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,23 8,120 4/1941 Launder 239-77 2,712,714 7/1955 McGee 472 3,180,570 4/ 1965Grabowski 230-254 ABRAHAM G. STONE, Primary Examiner.

R. E. BAGWILL, Assistant Examiner.

6. A REVOLVING AIR STREAM GENERATOR COMPRISING AN ELONGATED SUPPORTHAVING UPPER AND LOWER SECTIONS, SAID UPPER SECTION BEING ROTATABLERELATIVE TO THE LOWER SECTION ABOUT A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL AXIS, ANAIR BLOWER PRODUCING A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL STREAM OF AIR, MEANSMOUNTING SAID BLOWER UPON SAID UPPER SECTION FOR ROTATION ABOUT SAIDVERTICAL AXIS, A POWER SOURCE CONNECTED TO AND OPERATING SAID BLOWER,ROTARY COUPLING MEANS BETWEEN SAID UPPER AND LOWER SUPPORT SECTIONS,FLUID DISCHARGING NOZZLE MEANS MOUNTED BY SAID BLOWER MOUNTING MEANSFORWARDLY OF THE BLOWER AND CONNECTED TO THE UPPER CONDUIT
 7. THECOMBINATION OF CLAIM 6 WHEREIN SAID FLUID IS A COMBUSTIBLE FUELDISCHARGED BY THE NOZZLE MEANS AND SAID LOWER CONDUIT SECTION ISCONNECTED TO A SOURCE OF FUEL AND CONDUIT MEANS EXTENDING THROUGH SAIDCOUPLING MEANS CONNECTING SAID SOURCE OF FUEL TO THE NOZZLE MEANS.